A Quiet Place: A Clever, Edge-of-Your-Seat Creature Flick

I was raised the only child of hearing-impaired parents. As such, American Sign Language, close-caption television and a routine ignorance of music was my day-to-day life as a child. My home was mostly quiet, except for those rare moments where I was the one making noise.

As such, sudden and sharp noises tend to startle me even to this day, much like the main characters in director John Krasinski’s newest horror flick, A Quiet Place.

The tone for the movie is set almost from the start as we are introduced to the Abbotts, father Lee (also played by John Kasinski), mother Evelyn (Emily Blunt), their two sons Marcus and Beau (Noah Jupe & Cade Woodward) and their daughter Regan (Millicent Simmonds.) Some time after an invasion by strange creatures, presumably aliens, the family has learned that the seemingly invincible creatures hunt by sound, forcing the family to observe a strict set of rules to minimize the likelihood of ending up on the creature’s dinner plate, even going so far as to lay sand down to mark their common routes and muffle the sound of their footsteps.

Despite having very little in the way of spoken dialogue, the film ramps up the suspense right out of the gates when the family suffers a profound loss and must deal with it in absolute silence. Quickly, the film shifts in time to a year later, where we discover that the family has managed to eke out some semblance of a life and routine, even while the area is still infested with the strange armored creatures.

The film deals with themes of guilt, blame and family duty masterfully, and each character is fully fleshed out. Of particular note is the stellar performance of Millicent Simmonds. As a child, Millicent suffered from a medication overdose which left her hearing impaired. Despite her disability, her talent as a young actress shines through, making her role in A Quiet Place among the most memorable.

Emily Blunt (Edge of Tomorrow, The Adjustment Bureau) also delivers a suspenseful performance, at times leaving viewers with grit teeth and eyes clenched shut, particularly after it is revealed that she is eight months pregnant, and must therefore deliver a child in absolute silence, giving A Quiet Place yet another layer of suspense which viewers can look forward to.

Similarly excellent performance between the on-screen father-and-son team played by John Krasinski and Noah Jupe go a long way to show just how tightly knit this family is, even in the face of overwhelming danger and every-day family issues such as feelings of alienation and self-blame.

All in all, A Quiet Place delivers something for any fan of creature flicks. A family-based survival story that keeps you on the edge of your seat from the opening scenes to the final cut of the film.

A Quiet Place is currently available on-demand and will be released to DVD audiences everywhere on July 10.

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

You can adjust all of your cookie settings by navigating the tabs on the left hand side.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

disable

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.